Tag Archives: education

The Interpreter Fergus Hanson’s blog from the Lowy Institute for International Policy, cites the great leap upward forEmbassy Jakarta’s Facebook fans. The Interpreter’s banner photo is worth the price of admission.

President Obama’s visit to Indonesia in February 2010 was a pivotal event for the increase from 50,000 to nearly 310,000. Hanson proposes that State Department financial support played a role in outreach that drove new fans to the Embassy’s site. But it’s not clear that extra public outreach funding was forthcoming at that time, or since.

The viral nature of social media pushes audience growth exponentially. If the content grabs, Facebook connections ensue. Maybe Embassy Jakarta’s Facebook site is the place to be for Indonesian social medians. If you want to reach people you speak their language and the Embassy’s Facebook site displays Bahasa Indonesian. Would be interesting to see the metrics on where those 309,878 fans live and vote.

Creating a searchable directory of contact information for the employees of government agencies isn’t a new concept. Not so long ago, agency telephone directories were the tool of choice for finding colleagues.

Now, social networking sites facilitate internal or cross-agency searches for colleagues with expertise in particular subjects.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires staff to register professional data on entry, as part of new employee check-in procedures. The idea is to have access to the skillsets and knowledge of all employees. Without a database of skills — which may go far beyond one’s job title, pay grade or academic degrees — how can scientists find the best person for feedback, comment, brainstorming or information? The professional networking database is behind NRC’s firewall, but they do keep an open door for public participation.

The blog-stirs are drumming interest in the U.S. State Department’s proposed social networking platform with a draft title “Statebook”.

Professional networking sites benefit constituencies and customers, as well as employee groups. The Scottish local government uses professional networks to enable communication with its customers and among public service sectors. Science Daily reports on the educational benefits of social and professional networking sites.

The United States is promoting community gardening to enhance global relations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes community gardens around the world by providing skilled agronomists and master gardeners to local communities. This You Tube video discusses rooftop gardens and community vegetable gardens.

Some gardens are hands-on projects in the U.S.A. like the people’s garden on the grounds of the White House or the garden on the National Mall.

And other gardens are established in foreign countries through U.S. Embassy liaison with the Department of Agriculture.

Seoul’s People’s Garden initiative is growing well. On Saturday April 10th, a celebration of the 2010 People’s Garden project at the Ambassador’s residence attracted more than 150 Korean and American volunteers including 61 children.

Volunteerscelebrated spring in Seoul by digging in the earth and planting dozens of vegetable and flower seedlings. After the planting spree volunteers ate grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.

By the harvest celebration later this year they’ll feast on grilled vegetables produced in the garden.

Ecocide — an international crime to destroy or contaminate the environment that humans live in.

Sustainabilitank.info reports that supporters of a new ecocide law believe it could be used to prosecute “climate deniers” who distort science and facts to mislead the uninformed and to discourage voters and politicians from tackling climate change and environmental degredation.

There’s nobody like Virtual Reality pioneer Jaron Lanier. Some in IT policy and law don’t appreciate his thinking which should be a recommendation. The human brain is not a commodity. Let’s train brains to expanded consciousness, whimsey, creative connection and sustained focus. Twittering among gagetry and proving opposable manual capacity does not signify a brighter synchrotron or snappier cerebral snapse.

Myth: Anybody with a real job is too old and too busy for social networking.

Reality: Average age of a participant in the social media universe is 37 according to Pingdom. A third of all social network site users are over age 45. Pew Internet & American Life Project Nine Tribes of the Internet explains the personality and behavioural features of new media adapters.

The United States is still debating the creation of a U.S. Public Service Academy . Many prospective American diplomats study their trade at private schools — Georgetown, George Washington, Tufts and other universities. Yet any U.S. citizen can apply for the Foreign Service Exam, a step in the application process for career positions with the U.S. Department of State. U.S. diplomats receive specific training at the Foreign Affairs Training Center .

Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada (Foriegn Affairs and International Trade Canada) presents their Foreign Service Exam with a practice test. Find out whether you have the proficiency to represent Canada to the world.

German diplomats embrace diplomacy by networking. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office sponsors international training programs for diplomats with networking opportunities for seminar alumni. “German foreign policy is peace policy” is a vision statement we can all learn from.

In the U.S., there are several groups who establish governance for using social media for government communications and collaboration. Webcontent.gov provides general guidance. Web Manager University offers orientation for web professionals new to government practices vis a vis social media. The Web Content Managers Forum may have restrictions for membership.

In a quasi e-treaty, Estonia and Spain have signed a safer social networking agreement. The signatories pledged to advise the European Commission of their self-declaration and to explain how they plan to implement the provisions described in the agreement.